Jacksonville & its beaches

As a child returning often to Jacksonville, it wasn't my favorite place. To be honest it wasn't until recently that I saw a new Jacksonville emerging.
Jacksonville has developed into a wonderful city with tons of things to do. I know it has one of the youngest-aged median population for a city in the US. There are plenty of good restaurants, clubs, bars and malls for all budgets. There are several excellent golf courses including TPC Sawgrass. The Jackonsville Jaguars NFL play here. The Univ. of North Fla is located in Jacksonville also. Did I mention it has great beaches?
Jacksonville has become a great place to enjoy a nice weekend getaway.

Quick Tips:

In less than an hour drive you can reach from Jacksonville:
Amelia Island, Daytona Beach, St. Augustine, Ponte Vedra, Gainesville.
Savannah, Tallahassee and Orlando are within two hours easily.

Best Way To Get Around:

JAX is ranked one of the best and fastest growing airports in the USA. You'll need a car to hit all the spots.
The major highway in Jacksonville is I-95 which runs north and south, this can be crowded especially during rush hour.
The bridges to the beaches are a bit crowded during the weekends.

We drove into town and we luckly got a jacuzzi suite room. We were celebrating our 2nd anniversary and it sounded fun. We had a balcony also. The staff was very friendly and helpful. They had one of my favorite things a coffee maker! The hotel was excellent --- A1A all the way

The rate for the rooms can run from a basic room around 130 to over 700 for a three room villa. We always get the one room villa that usually runs about 190 to 315(resort view) to 210 to 405 (ocean view). I have never paid more than 250 for either. Is the hotel worth the price, YES!

The resort has close to 250 rooms and the best pool deck around. They deck are two-level. The rooms here all face the ocean. There is nothing more romantic than having late night drinks and snacks out on the balcony listening to the waves. We it''s just my husband and I, we stay at the Beach Club.

When it''s more than us two, we always get a one bedroom villa. There are different floorplans and depending on what we need that trip is how we select. We like the full kitchen, dining room, living room with pull out sofa and several bathrooms. Each resort complex has a pool but of course, you can still use the Beach Club''s pool.

The hotel recommended the restaurant and honestly we chose it because it was right across the street. We wanted something within walking distance since we knew we would be having drinks to celebrate our anniversary. Boy am I glad we came here!!! I LOVED IT. I LOVED IT. I LOVED IT.

The food presentation (multi-colored plates & fresh flowers), the service and the cuisine are all close to 5-star caliber. The cuisine is "island cuisine" with a splash of elegance. Every dish had a "twist" to it. The crab cakes I ordered came with a spicy fruit salsa that was extraordinary. The salad that came with the dish, judging on taste and presentation, came close to be one of the best I've ever had. The tuna appetizer was superb and my husband had the conch, which also was superb. He had mahi-mahi for dinner.

Opps, I forgot to tell you the drinks were as good as they were pretty. No plastic or paper umbrella here...real flowers!

This restaurant be it in Jacksonville or Cancun is one of my family's all-time favorite. The Jacksonville location has an amazing view overlooking the St John River. It's floor-to-celing windows combined with dim lighting and dark wood furnishings give the restaurant the feel and look of elegance and tastefulness.

No one comes here for the view though, they come for the steaks. The steaks are world known. Wherever there is Ruth's Chris on our journeys, it's a must do, plus we have one back home. I am not a steak eater, so here is what I do. Since everything is a la carte (huge portions), I order a salad then get a piece of the immense baked potato from someone, take some sauteed mushrooms from another person and then some grilled onions from another...presto a meal! Seriously this is what I do when we come here. I'll sometimes order a shrimp appetizer to begin with. This leaves me room for their excellent bread pudding.

The service is exceptional.

This restaurant has been in operation more than 50 years. When we travelled back to Jacksonville to visit family, this was my dad's choice. ALWAYS.

They have the freshest seafood around and at great prices. I recommend the clam chowder. It is wonderful. I had my first raw oyster here and always order them when I come. I'm use to doing them like my parents...take them off the half shell, pour into a glass, squeeze lime, tabasco sauce and them swallow. YUM! Last time I was here I had a plate that had blackened catfish, shrimp, fried crab cakes and Alaskan Snow Crab Legs. Another of my favorites is the shrimp plate with shrimp scampi, coconut shrimp, fried shrrimp and buffalo shrimp.

There are over 800 animals here at the Zoological Gardens. One section has the petting zoo, the aviary and a pier overlooking the Trout River.

Free Beer. Is that enough to get you here. Probably not but this is something you should do once in your lifetime. The tour is free and it's self-guided. So you can speed through or take it turtle speed. You can view the brewing and bottling process. Once you're through there are free samples in the hospitality room. They use to allow up to three sample cups, not sure what the limit is these days.